Levi Johnston's mother gets 3 years in drug case

Source: AP

Nov 20, 9:37 PM EST

Levi Johnston's mother gets 3 years in drug case

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The mother of the man former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol had planned to marry has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Sherry Johnston was sentenced Friday in Palmer, about 45 miles northeast of Anchorage. She pleaded guilty in August to one count of possession with intent to deliver the painkiller OxyContin. Five other felony counts were dropped in the deal, which called for a five-year prison sentence with two years suspended.

The 43-year-old Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston. He and 18-year-old Bristol Palin were engaged but called off the wedding after their son, Tripp, was born in December.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that Sherry Johnston will serve her sentence at Alaska's only female prison.

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Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_PALIN_JOHNSTON_ARREST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-11-20-21-37-31

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Sherry Johnston, Levi's mother, is sentenced


By MEGAN HOLLAND


(11/20/09 15:41:24)

Sherry Johnston was sentenced today to three years in prison for dealing OxyContin.

...

Johnston was charged in December 2008 with dealing the prescription painkiller OxyContin, a popular and highly addictive recreational drug. Police say she received the pills in the mail then sold 10 to a police informant three different times in October and November 2008. The drug dealings took place via cell and text messages with rendezvous in the parking lots of Fred Meyer and Target.

Johnston's lawyer, Anchorage attorney Rex Butler, in a phone interview after the sentencing called Johnston "a poster child for healthcare reform." He said his client was only selling the drugs to get enough money to pay for other pain medications that her insurance company denied her. He would not identify her insurance company. Johnston has said she suffers from chronic pelvic pain stemming from past surgeries.

Levi Johnston, who recently posed for "Playgirl" magazine, was at the Friday morning sentencing in Palmer, fresh off making rounds in Hollywood circles, according to the Los Angeles Times.

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/1021703.html


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Newsdump. Discovered tonight I can't turn on friggin' rock stations without hearing about book tour, how about we hear some of this.

Doesn't that family get a pass if they disrobe?

I've heard sisters and I've heard of brothers doing porn together (not depicting sexual acts with each other, just being photographed together). And there was that mother/adult daughter duo that was advertising their services as tag team prostitutes on Craigs List.

Those bills aren't gonna pay themselves!

Good lord!

Instead of sticking her ass in re-hab and then making her pay a big fine the taxpayers will be dishing out $75,000 to keep her in prison for three years.

Someone needs to reform our prison/legal system as it regards to drugs.

approach is inhumane. I remember in the 90's that the insurance co. did not want to pay for pain medication for women in labor. This country has got to wake up.

but then it would run the risk of being shot from a helicopter,

I read the whole article but is there more to the story here - is she really going to prison for three years for selling a total of 30 Oxycontin? Didn't Rush Limbaugh illegally obtain thousands of schedule II and III pills over a period of years?
I read on one of the Alaska blogs that Mrs. Johnston is also losing her house and just got served with divorce papers. Poor Levi, his family life just got shot to hell right before Thanksgiving. I don't blame him for doing what he has to to make money.
He's 19, a father of an infant and has no one to fall back on but himself.

If the story is true, it says why we need HCR!

hope he'd make it out of that family cycle for the sake of her grandson. But, nope, she's there to take shots at every turn.

I feel for the kid & hope he does okay.

She will do a year.

Here is the Alaska Parole Rules
He will do a year

a) A prisoner sentenced to an active term of imprisonment of at least 181 days may, in the discretion of the board, be released on discretionary parole if the prisoner has served the amount of time specified under (b) of this section, except that


(1) a prisoner sentenced to one or more mandatory 99-year terms under AS 12.55.125 (a) or one or more definite terms under AS 12.55.125 ( l ) is not eligible for consideration for discretionary parole;


(2) a prisoner is not eligible for consideration of discretionary parole if made ineligible by order of a court under AS 12.55.115 ;


(3) a prisoner imprisoned under AS 12.55.086 is not eligible for discretionary parole unless the actual term of imprisonment is more than one year.


(b) A prisoner eligible under (a) of this section who is sentenced


(1) to a single sentence under AS 12.55.125 (a) or (b) may not be released on discretionary parole until the prisoner has served the mandatory minimum term under AS 12.55.125 (a) or (b), one-third of the active term of imprisonment imposed, or any term set under AS 12.55.115, whichever is greatest;


(2) to a single sentence within or below a presumptive range set out in AS 12.55.125 (c), (d)(2) - (4), (e)(3) and (4), or (i), and has not been allowed by the three-judge panel under AS 12.55.175 to be considered for discretionary parole release, may not be released on discretionary parole until the prisoner has served the term imposed, less good time earned under AS 33.20.010 ;


(3) to a single sentence under AS 12.55.125 (c), (d)(2) - (4), (e)(3) and (4), or (i), and has been allowed by the three-judge panel under AS 12.55.175 to be considered for discretionary parole release during the second half of the sentence, may not be released on discretionary parole until


(A) the prisoner has served that portion of the active term of imprisonment required by the three-judge panel; and


(B) in addition to the factors set out in AS 33.16.100 (a), the board determines that


(i) the prisoner has successfully completed all rehabilitation programs ordered by the three-judge panel that were made available to the prisoner; and


(ii) the prisoner would not constitute a danger to the public if released on parole;


(4) to a single enhanced sentence under AS 12.55.155 (a) that is above the applicable presumptive range may not be released on discretionary parole until the prisoner has served the greater of the following:


(A) an amount of time, less good time earned under AS 33.20.010 , equal to the upper end of the presumptive range plus one-fourth of the amount of time above the presumptive range; or


(B) any term set under AS 12.55.115 ;


(5) to a single sentence under any other provision of law may not be released on discretionary parole until the prisoner has served at least one-fourth of the active term of imprisonment, any mandatory minimum sentence imposed under any provision of law, or any term set under AS 12.55.115, whichever is greatest;


(6) to concurrent sentences may not be released on discretionary parole until the prisoner has served the greatest of


(A) any mandatory minimum sentence or sentences imposed under any provision of law;


(B) any term set under AS 12.55.115 ; or


(C) the amount of time that is required to be served under (1) - (5) of this subsection for the sentence imposed for the primary crime, had that been the only sentence imposed;


(7) to consecutive or partially consecutive sentences may not be released on discretionary parole until the prisoner has served the greatest of


(A) the composite total of any mandatory minimum sentence or sentences imposed under any provision of law, including AS 12.55.127 ;


(B) any term set under 12.55.115 ; or


(C) the amount of time that is required to be served under (1) - (5) of this subsection for the sentence imposed for the primary crime, had that been the only sentence imposed, plus one-quarter of the composite total of the active term of imprisonment imposed as consecutive or partially consecutive sentences imposed for all crimes other than the primary crime.


(c) As used in this section,


(1) "active term of imprisonment" has the meaning given in AS 12.55.185;


(2) "primary crime" has the meaning given in AS 12.55.127 .

http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title33/Chapter16/Section090.htm

circumstances of his life right now.

While I do not wish him ill, I do foresee a very dim future for him and for Bristol and the kid. Sarah Palin is a vulture and an opportunist. This whole story is so depressing...

The Alaskan blogger Gryphen that was at the sentencing hearing said on his blog:

Sherry Johnston hopefully headed home for the holidays, and my afternoon with "Team Levi"
SNIP

QUOTE

We all stood up for the entrance of Judge Eric Smith. Then the prosecutor read the charges that Sherry had plead guilty to, Rex Butler spoke a few words about Sherry's medical situation and some special conditions that they previously worked out, and then Judge Smith was ready to read the sentence.

The Judge seemed very sympathetic to Sherry's plight and made mention of the fact that this was a very unusual case. (Gee, ya think?) Still, he said, she had broken the law, and selling prescription medication was a serious crime in the Valley. He wanted to make sure that she understood how serious it was and that other potential drug dealers did as well. Still, he said, she had a very clean record up to this point, and had sold her Oxycontin to just ONE person, a total of only three times. And he did not anticipate her making this mistake again.

Then the judge delivered his sentence; 3 years in prison, a $2,400.00 fine, and three years of probation, (She should be able to serve her three years in her home with an ankle monitor, once the state checks and makes sure her home is compliant with the regulations). He further stated that he did not expect to see her in his courtroom ever again under similar circumstances, but hoped that someday she might return to serve on one of his juries. Rex Butler told the judge not to worry, that Sherry would NEVER be back in front of him again. And then Sherry thanked the judge for his kind words.

Sherry was then led away in handcuffs as her family stood by and waved to her as she passed. (It will take a few days to process, but there is some hope she will be home in time for Thanksgiving.)
UNQUOTE
SNIP
Full story here: http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2009/11/sherry-johnston-hopefuly-headed-home.html

.

Sending her to the crime school that is prison wouldn't help anyone, and might eventually harm their community.

that would be absolutely zero.

Which means being a psychotic hate-bot swine fat fuck white male is okay in the US.

(Apologies to actual swine.)

It's a sad story, and it's a tempting anecdote for health-care reform -- but the poor woman didn't sign up to be a political poster-child for anybody: she's entitled to her privacy, even if her son's former squeeze's mother is a publicity hound

and would usually agree period, seems fitting to me that if we are going to be stuck with hearing about Palin's know-nothing celebrity and the lies she spouts daily, as somehow the republican answer to actual policy and politics, then she ought to be treated like any gossip figure. She was the "family-values" holier than thou candidate right?

I still hear about Chappaquiddick and even Billy Carter from time to time. And Palin's ghost written bs book is apparently the most important news there is the last week or so. Why?

outside the US now. I can go to a pharmacy, ask for a strong pain-killer (Diclophenac), get muscle relaxers and a number of "prescription drugs" (anti-biotics and strong anti-inflammatories), diazepam and codeine...all without a prescription, I can buy how many I want (I am told to take them carefully by the apothecary)and I pay very little compared to what I used to pay, even for generics. I would never return to the US system, better to live outside the prison-country. Maybe you will see why when Sarah Palin gets selected in 2012...gotta take my meds, bye.

has to pay the legal bills.

Johnston's mom was busted in December 2008, a week or so before palin's daughter gave birth. The arrest was based on sales of controlled substances to undercover agents back in October and November. If anything, its more likely (and I have no proof of this) that if Palin intervened in this case at all it was to hold up any arrest from being made until after the election.

The whole story is sad.